EEOC Grants Employers New Life in EEO-1 Data Collection

EEOC Grants Employers New Life in EEO-1 Data Collection

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced it would delay the EEO-1 data collection until 2020. Citing hardship due to the COVID-19 “public health emergency,” EEOC is pushing the deadline into the first quarter of 2021. Many employers are expressing a sense of relief, assuming this change is made official.

EEOC’s notice is contingent upon approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Employers should anticipate reporting their EEO-1 Component 1 data for all of 2019 and 2020. The expectation is that portal for EEO-1 submissions will open in early 2021 with a deadline in March.

The initial delay in collection occurred because OMB had yet to approve EEOC’s previous requests for changes to the required data, as well as a renewal of the form used in the past. While there was a lot of uncertainty and frustration on this subject, those employers required to collect and submit the data now have another temporary reprieve with the latest decision.

This new delay allows employers to put a process in place to effectively and efficiently collect and document the necessary data. Many people had expressed concerns over their ability to gather all of the information in a timely manner. Now, EEOC’s announcement pushes these obligations back a full year, giving employers a chance for a fresh start and a path to success.